I was a Agnostic. - Atheist Nexus2017-08-18T05:40:14Zhttp://atheistnexus.org/forum/topics/i-was-a-agnostic?feed=yes&xn_auth=noThank you, Tenken; this info…tag:atheistnexus.org,2011-10-31:2182797:Comment:17164432011-10-31T11:52:23.350Ztom sarbeckhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/TomSarbeck
<p>Thank you, Tenken; this info will make a terrific speech for my Toastmasters club.</p>
<p>I long ago told them I'm an atheist and am okay with knowing that I will become a few chemicals in the ground. The only explicit reaction came from a member who told me that as I near death I will reconsider. None of the several right wing xians has said anything to my face, probably because they know I will give them some heat and they aren't strong enough to take it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Thank you, Tenken; this info will make a terrific speech for my Toastmasters club.</p>
<p>I long ago told them I'm an atheist and am okay with knowing that I will become a few chemicals in the ground. The only explicit reaction came from a member who told me that as I near death I will reconsider. None of the several right wing xians has said anything to my face, probably because they know I will give them some heat and they aren't strong enough to take it.</p>
<p> </p> Hey, Tom!
I would have sworn…tag:atheistnexus.org,2011-10-31:2182797:Comment:17164072011-10-31T11:40:34.081ZLoren Millerhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/LorenMiller
<p>Hey, Tom!</p>
<p>I would have sworn I found "apatheist" on dictionary.com, but apparently not. <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=apatheist" target="_blank">It DOES appear in the Urban Dictionary</a>, though ... and I still think it characterizes where I was at that time. Maybe Merriam-Webster will come up to speed later on!</p>
<p>Hey, Tom!</p>
<p>I would have sworn I found "apatheist" on dictionary.com, but apparently not. <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=apatheist" target="_blank">It DOES appear in the Urban Dictionary</a>, though ... and I still think it characterizes where I was at that time. Maybe Merriam-Webster will come up to speed later on!</p> APATHEIST!
Loren, I haven't c…tag:atheistnexus.org,2011-10-31:2182797:Comment:17164062011-10-31T11:25:43.626Ztom sarbeckhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/TomSarbeck
<p>APATHEIST!</p>
<p>Loren, I haven't checked my OED, but until I do (and find it there) I thank you for adding a most useful word to the language.</p>
<p>I too have occasionally dropped a hammer when an event stirred memories of the consequences of an earlier related event. That I dropped the hammer without thinking tells me that doing so was important to my well being. One such time was after one too many nuns (in the Catholic schools my dad sent me to) had told me to turn the other cheek. I…</p>
<p>APATHEIST!</p>
<p>Loren, I haven't checked my OED, but until I do (and find it there) I thank you for adding a most useful word to the language.</p>
<p>I too have occasionally dropped a hammer when an event stirred memories of the consequences of an earlier related event. That I dropped the hammer without thinking tells me that doing so was important to my well being. One such time was after one too many nuns (in the Catholic schools my dad sent me to) had told me to turn the other cheek. I realized that I had only two cheeks.</p>
<p> </p> This is an area of much confu…tag:atheistnexus.org,2011-10-30:2182797:Comment:17155962011-10-30T14:47:53.356ZTenkenhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/Tenken
<p>This is an area of much confusion for people:</p>
<p>"Agnostic" and "atheist" statuses are independent of each other. There are agnostic atheists, just like there are agnostic theists.<br></br> <a href="http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y26/Reckut/Ask-BlueGargoyle.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img class="align-full" src="http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y26/Reckut/Ask-BlueGargoyle.jpg"></img></a></p>
<p><br></br>The topic still makes sense though, because a gnostic theist could technically become an agnostic theist before becoming an agnostic atheist. However, this is unlikely to…</p>
<p>This is an area of much confusion for people:</p>
<p>"Agnostic" and "atheist" statuses are independent of each other. There are agnostic atheists, just like there are agnostic theists.<br/> <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y26/Reckut/Ask-BlueGargoyle.jpg"><img class="align-full" src="http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y26/Reckut/Ask-BlueGargoyle.jpg"/></a></p>
<p><br/>The topic still makes sense though, because a gnostic theist could technically become an agnostic theist before becoming an agnostic atheist. However, this is unlikely to happen from people who don't understand that both agnostic theists and atheists exist, but the topic can <em>still</em> technically make sense. I'll explain.<br/><br/>Realistically, since atheism is the <em>lack</em> of an active belief in deities, when people start doubting the existence of deities, they already no longer <em>actively</em> hold a positive belief in deities, which means they are already atheist. This topic then becomes about labels. When you became atheist, how long as it before you identified as one, and did you identify as agnostic first (even if it wasn't the proper usage)?<br/><br/>But Jonah, your story is different. You described losing your religion but continuing to believe in a deity, this is neither becoming atheist nor necessarily becoming agnostic, although you could easily have become agnostic too, if you took the stance that "there is no way to know if there is or isn't a god" at the same time you lost your religion. And in that case, since you "were" agnostic, you would now feel that you do know for sure that deities positively don't exist (vs merely lacking a belief in them). If <em>that</em> distinction is also confusing, there's a great video that explains all of this clearly:</p>
<p><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/sNDZb0KtJDk?wmode=opaque" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe>
</p> I was raised christian congre…tag:atheistnexus.org,2011-10-30:2182797:Comment:17150932011-10-30T11:19:31.473ZLoren Millerhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/LorenMiller
<p>I was raised christian congregationalist and was at least semi-active in that until I went off to college something over 40 years ago. I had been confirmed in our church, but there was nothing experientially to back up all the yap from the pulpit, no lab to go with the lecture. As I entered my adult life, religion more or less fell away from me, though I was less agnostic than I was apatheist - indifferent to the whole idea of a god.</p>
<p>My first wife was probably about the same, though…</p>
<p>I was raised christian congregationalist and was at least semi-active in that until I went off to college something over 40 years ago. I had been confirmed in our church, but there was nothing experientially to back up all the yap from the pulpit, no lab to go with the lecture. As I entered my adult life, religion more or less fell away from me, though I was less agnostic than I was apatheist - indifferent to the whole idea of a god.</p>
<p>My first wife was probably about the same, though when she proposed meekly that our daughter be baptized, I found myself dropping the hammer - NO, NOT gonna happen - and indeed, our daughter was raised for the large part without religion, other than the occasional visit to my father-in-law's church for Xmas.</p>
<p>I suppose what has gotten me more squarely into the atheist camp than anything else has been my participation in discussion boards since being laid off in 2008. It's been an education for me, especially in some of the real evil done by the catholic and evangelical churches and particularly the threat of the dominionist movement. That has resonated in me to the point where I can say that <strong>There Are NO Gods, FULL STOP</strong> ... and if someone wants to assert otherwise, they can either pull out the goods or shut the fuck up.</p> Thank you all for taking your…tag:atheistnexus.org,2011-10-30:2182797:Comment:17151462011-10-30T10:30:24.095ZJonah Coronadohttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/JonahCoronado
Thank you all for taking your time to write on this post and letting other know how you feel about the topic, I appreciate all you guys Input and hope all you guys have a good weekend, take care now.
Thank you all for taking your time to write on this post and letting other know how you feel about the topic, I appreciate all you guys Input and hope all you guys have a good weekend, take care now. I completely agree with the '…tag:atheistnexus.org,2011-10-26:2182797:Comment:17111152011-10-26T14:35:21.462Zmojo5501http://atheistnexus.org/profile/mojo5501
<p>I completely agree with the 'self-defeating' aspect you mention. If I only had friends who were atheists I'd have a pretty small social circle! (Not including the many friendly relations I have on AN, of course). </p>
<p>When it comes to being an atheist, I'm not willing to be that militant about it....especially with the folks that remain 'spiritual' without being overbearing about it. I usually come to every potential friendship with the assumption that the person is NOT an atheist…</p>
<p>I completely agree with the 'self-defeating' aspect you mention. If I only had friends who were atheists I'd have a pretty small social circle! (Not including the many friendly relations I have on AN, of course). </p>
<p>When it comes to being an atheist, I'm not willing to be that militant about it....especially with the folks that remain 'spiritual' without being overbearing about it. I usually come to every potential friendship with the assumption that the person is NOT an atheist because the odds are against it. It certainly hasn't been my litmus test for friendship or association. What is challenging is to find folks who can debate without getting into 'personal attack mode'. And this transcends religious discussions. Miss Manners aside, I like to talk about politics and religion but realize it's a risky thing sometimes.</p>
<p> </p> "...how other people deal wit…tag:atheistnexus.org,2011-10-26:2182797:Comment:17101892011-10-26T07:25:23.819Ztom sarbeckhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/TomSarbeck
<p>"...how other people deal with non-believers that remain 'spiritual' people."</p>
<p>Some of the folks who post here seem to believe the way to deal with non-believers that remain spiritual is to drive them away. As self-defense, it works. As political tactic, it's self-defeating.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"...how other people deal with non-believers that remain 'spiritual' people."</p>
<p>Some of the folks who post here seem to believe the way to deal with non-believers that remain spiritual is to drive them away. As self-defense, it works. As political tactic, it's self-defeating.</p>
<p> </p> But you can say that evidence…tag:atheistnexus.org,2011-10-25:2182797:Comment:17104232011-10-25T21:41:01.249Zmojo5501http://atheistnexus.org/profile/mojo5501
<p>But you <strong>can</strong> say that evidence does not support the existence of god. We can certainly ask the honest question: "Where is the evidence?" Faith alone is not evidence. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Yet we know that many believers will just come back with the response 'beyond all human understanding' and think that should be sufficient.</p>
<p>But you <strong>can</strong> say that evidence does not support the existence of god. We can certainly ask the honest question: "Where is the evidence?" Faith alone is not evidence. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Yet we know that many believers will just come back with the response 'beyond all human understanding' and think that should be sufficient.</p> The same is true for me excep…tag:atheistnexus.org,2011-10-25:2182797:Comment:17100122011-10-25T20:47:45.389ZJim DePaulohttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/carver
The same is true for me except I never tried to be a believer. I did, however, define myself as an Agnostic for a time but then considered it just a wishy washy cop out. ﻿The lack of even a scintilla of evidence for the existence a god guy or even a reasonable speculation of same, convinced me that he/she/it ain't up there.
The same is true for me except I never tried to be a believer. I did, however, define myself as an Agnostic for a time but then considered it just a wishy washy cop out. ﻿The lack of even a scintilla of evidence for the existence a god guy or even a reasonable speculation of same, convinced me that he/she/it ain't up there.